Freedom Rider:
Christian/Jewish Fascism Awareness Week
by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley
"They believe in endless wars of aggression, the
destruction of the last vestiges of civil liberties, and subservience to a
corporate power."
Right wing propagandist David Horowitz has declared October
22nd through October 26th Islamo-Fascism
Awareness Week. Horowitz is one of the biggest beneficiaries of right wing
welfare, mostly from the hands of ultra-conservative foundations run by the
Scaife and Bradley families. He has received more than $15 million in handouts
to promote a white supremacist, pro-war agenda.
The current Horowitz obsession is focused on Islam and on
keeping Americans whipped into a frenzy of fear and hatred against all Muslims.
The very term Islamo-Fascism is a cynical creation of neoconservatives,
designed to insure blind adherence to the Bush war on terror scheme.
The biggest perpetrators of terrorist acts are and always
have been governments, not individuals of any religion. When the United States
refers to "state sponsored" terror, it must be looking in the mirror. War is
the very worst act of terror that can be practiced, giving governments
permission to kill and commit brutal atrocities that would be loudly condemned
if committed by individuals.
"Horowitz obsession is focused on Islam and on keeping
Americans whipped into a frenzy of fear and hatred against all Muslims."
If the world's major religions are compared in terms of body
count, it is clear that Islam should not be seen as the enemy. The two nations
now in the fifth year of a plan to commit wars of aggression in the Middle East
are Israel and the United States. If there should be warnings about particular
religions and allegations of fascist connections, the perpetrators are
Christianity and Judaism, not Islam.
It is manifestly unfair to label entire groups based on the
behavior of a few. The Israeli lobby actively promotes war, but it can't be
said that all American Jews are themselves pro-war. Around the world Bush is
seen as the bogeyman representative of American Christianity. Many Christians
may resent the verdict of guilt by association, but they would do well to
remember that Muslims are also entitled to make their own pleas of individual
innocence.
Instead Muslims are called upon to denounce any act of
brutality committed by another Muslim, and to defend their religion from
slanderous attacks. What is good for the Muslim goose, should also be good for
the Christian and Jewish ganders. Therefore, October 22nd to October
26th in the year 2007 should also be known as Christian/Jewish
Fascism Awareness Week.
"Around the world Bush is seen as the bogeyman
representative of American Christianity."
The lawyers who wrote memos defending torture are all Jews
and Christians, so are the members of Congress who advocate for endless
warfare. All of the neocons who spent years plotting the occupation of Iraq and
now the destruction of Iran are Christians or Jews. None are Muslim, nor are
they atheist, agnostic, Baha'i, Zoroastrian, Buddhist, Hindu, or practitioners
of Voodoo. All attend churches and synagogues and in fact brag about their
religious piety.
Norman Podhoretz, father of neocondom,
said of the prospect of bombing Iran, "I hope and pray we will...." Crackpot preacher Rev. John Hagee founded Christians United
for Israel, whose sole reason for existing is to guarantee the killing of
thousands of Iranians. Hagee wants war and wants Bush to start it whenever he
feels like it. "We do not have a declaration of war for Iraq, and neither does
the president need one to expand it into Iran." Giving political leaders
permission to kill as they please is Fascism 101.
Horowitz and his gang have carried out a very sinister
plan. They fit the description of fascists to a T. They believe in endless wars
of aggression, the destruction of the last vestiges of civil liberties, and
subservience to a corporate power. Yet they have succeeded in wielding the
epithet of fascism because of Democratic party treason to Bush, a corporate
media that deliberately withholds information from the public, and the apathy
and confusion that dominate American life.
"Christians
United for Israel's sole reason for existing is to guarantee the killing of
thousands of Iranians."
Americans do need to be aware of a fascist threat, a threat
that comes straight from the White House, Wall Street, and the halls of
Congress. It can only be fought if its presence is acknowledged and if citizens
know that they still have the power to stop it.
Politicians will be of no help in this struggle. Looking to
them for salvation is useless when they are in fact the source of the problem.
The Democratic congressional victory is nearly one year old and has yielded
nothing but one victory after another for the Bush regime.
In a little more than a year, November 4, 2008, a new
president will be elected. Another Fascism Awareness Week should be declared at
that time. It should be declared to remind us that the fight to maintain democracy
will not end with George W. Bush. That is the awareness we really need now.
Margaret Kimberley's
Freedom Rider column appears weekly in BAR. Ms. Kimberley lives in New York
City, and can be reached via e-Mail at Margaret.Kimberley(at)BlackAgandaReport.Com.
Ms. Kimberley' maintains an edifying and frequently updated blog at freedomrider.blogspot.com.
More of her work is also available at her Black Agenda Report archive page.
The first in a three-part series analyzing African politics in 2022.
The trans-Atlantice slave trade did not end with the 1808 ban. The Clotilda arrived in 1860 and the descendants of those enslaved people are impacted by that history, as are all African people in theâŚ
The U.S. imposes unilateral coercive measures, sanctions, against millions of people around the world. Sanctions are war by other means, creating as much damage as bombs and bullets do.
Black people are disproportionately convicted of felonies across New York State. In Manhattan, a Black person is 21 times more likely to be convicted of a crime than a white person.
Thank you for your support in 2022. Black Agenda Report Will Return on January 4, 2023.
